FAQ

From 2013hs.igem.org

Latest revision as of 18:04, 21 March 2013

Registration Questions

1. What are the requirements to register a team?
   • Teams must complete the following phttps://2013hs.igem.org/Registration_Handbook registration requirements] and be accepted by iGEM Headquarters to be an official iGEM 2013 High School team. Requirements can be completed in any order:
   1. Primary contact must complete the registration application
   2. Complete resource description on the team information page
   3. Complete shipping information on the team information page
   4. Complete and submit consent forms:
      • Participant consent forms for every team member
      • Principal consent form
      • Department Head consent form (if applicable)
   5. Registration fee must be submitted
2. Why is there a limit on the number of teams this year?
   • To best support our high school teams in the 2013 season, there will be a cap on the number of high school teams that iGEM Headquarters can accept. Registration will be limited to the first 50 teams which complete ALL registration requirements and are accepted by iGEM Headquarters. In the event you are not accepted to participate in iGEM2013, we encourage you to express your interest in the high school division by sending an email to hq (at) igem.org so that we can contact you about other opportunities to participate in iGEM.
3. Why is there a registration fee?
   • The registration fee covers the team's participation in the iGEM 2013 High School Division, support from iGEM Headquarters, and associated materials. In addition, we have found that teams are more likely to make it to the end and participate in the Jamboree if there is a registration fee. We have seen through previous experience with both the collegiate division and high school division that a registration fee makes teams prepare more intensively and therefore more likely to finish. And lastly, we want to continue having a High School Division, and also to keep on improving the Division, and improving the support we can give to our teams.

General Questions

1. What is expected of an iGEM High School team?
   • Teams are expected to work on a synthetic biology project during the competition season, and then present it at the High School Jamboree in June. Most importantly, teams are expected to work hard and have fun! More information about expectations during the season is available here. To get started, teams must fulfill the registration requirements.
2. I'm having trouble brainstorming a project. Where can I get ideas?
   • A good place to get inspiration is by looking at previous years' projects! You can see previous high school projects here. Collegiate projects are available for you to look at as well, organized by year: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009... all the way back to 2006.

Wiki-related Questions

1. Did you know...
   • You can navigate back to the iGEM 2013 High School main page by clicking on the header at the top of every page?
   • You can view the source code by clicking on "view source" (if you're not logged in) and "edit" (if you are logged in) in the upper left of the header?
   • You can edit wikis by clicking on "edit" in the upper left of the header?
   • You can view the history of a wiki and its previous editors by clicking on "history" in the upper left of the header?
   • You can upload files using the "Upload file" link at the bottom of the page?
2. How do I add a wiki page, change a wiki page, delete a wiki page, etc.?
   • All iGEM wiki sites are powered by Mediawiki. See the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents Mediawiki Help page] for details on how to edit wiki pages and more.
   • Using/editing the wiki is a trial-and-error process. Editing the wiki is a simple, fun thing to do and you definitely get better the more you play around with it. The key is to take a look at other wiki pages and see what you like. Then all you have to do is go to the source (either view source if you're not logged in, or edit if you are logged in), copy it, and modify it to fit your needs (and remember to properly attribute the code!). Your wiki doesn't have to be perfect before you can see what it looks like, just click on "show preview", which lets you see it without saving your changes. Try things out and see what results they yield.
3. How do I keep our team pages in our namespace?
   • You must keep your team's pages in your team namespace. For an example, take a look at https://2011.igem.org/Team:Example.
   • Specifically, when you create a new page, you just have to name it Team (or Lab or Course):[OFFICIAL team name] / [page you want to make]. For example, if you were on Team Example and wanted to create a Biosensor project page you would name it Team:Example/Biosensor_project.
4. How do I make my user page?
   • When it comes to user pages, you want to keep them in your user namespace. To do this:
   1. Log in
   2. Click on your name in the grey navigation bar
   3. Edit your page
5. Why do I get an error when I try to upload a file?
   • We have fixed a bug that caused users to get this error message when uploading some files: "The file is corrupt or has an incorrect extension. Please check the file and upload again." We allow files up to 15 MBytes in length and with any of these extensions: 'png', 'gif', 'jpg', 'jpeg', 'pdf', 'ppt', 'txt', 'zip', 'mp3', 'mov', 'swf', 'xls', 'm','ogg', 'gb', 'xls', 'tif', 'tiff', 'fcs'. Please note that some of these extensions may not be rendered very well by MediaWiki. Please let us know if you eed to upload larger of different files.
6. How can I use CSS to style my wiki pages?
   • It is possible to use CSS to style your wiki pages. See Mac Cowell's tips on how to do so here.
7. Why don't I see the edit link at the top of the page?
   • If you hover over the header, the link menu will appear, including the edit link.
8. What is a template and how can I use this in my wiki?
   • Templates are especially helpful if you have multiple pages because it allows you to create consistent formatting across multiple pages. For instance, if you wanted to add the same header to all of your team's wiki pages, you can create a template once, and then use it throughout the team wiki. Any changes made to the template would then be reflected across all your pages, and save you the hassle of editing the code separately for each page. To get started:
   1. Create a template off 2013hs.igem.org. Be sure to use a unique name other teams won't use it by mistake. For example: https://2013hs.igem.org/Template:iGEMHQ or https://2013hs.igem.org/Template:TeamBoston
   2. Edit your template as you'd like.
   3. Use your template in a page with this tag: (using the above examples)

      [[iGEMHQ]] or [[TeamBoston]]

   4. You can also use multiple templates within a page.